Jakarta. The Ministry of Home Affairs handed over a list of potential voters to the General Elections Commission, or KPU, on Friday (15/12) to create a database for the 2019 legislative and presidential elections.

The list is based on residential data of persons whose fingerprints and iris scans have been recorded by the ministry.

"The population, in accordance with the ministry's data, is currently 261 million people, of whom 189 million are required to have a KTP [national identity card]," the ministry's secretary general Hadi Prabowo said.

As about 7 million people will turn 17 in April 2019, names of 196,545,636 voters are recorded on the list.

Hadi said the voters' fingerprints and iris scans will prevent them from casting votes more than once or using fake identity cards.

The ministry is also currently working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to map and record data of Indonesian voters abroad, who will participate in the elections at 131 embassies.

KPU chairman Arief Budiman said the submission of the list is an important part of the election process, as the commission is now able to verify and synchronize its database.

"As the data has been integrated, we will be able to update [the list]," Arief said, adding that the number of voters can still change after verification.

The 2019 poll will be Indonesia's first simultaneous legislative and presidential election.